you can see the gates still here, still closed decades later, and behind us here, what used to be the seal. you can sill faintly make out united states of america. still today, the walls here painted with anti-american murals, the guard stations empty. and tonight, many here are hoping for an end to the sanctions, to the nuclear standoff. >> we hope. we hope. >> reporter: you hope it ends? >> better days. >> reporter: meantime tonight, one of iran's closest allies, syria, also being watched by the world. as conditions quickly detier area rate, as a assad struggles to hold onto power. abc's terry morgan is in damacus. >> reporter: david, less than a mile from here, just over there, there's another hotel, a small place, where visiting sports teams will stay. it's just near the stadium. this afternoon, the war came there. a rebel mortar shell fired from the suburbs blasted out windows and scattered shrapnel into the building, killing a young soccer player. soccer player. "my friend was in front of me and he died," he tells me. "we are all just athletes," he says. "we have nothing to do w